


Photographs

by Icecat62



Category: due South
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-17
Updated: 2014-09-17
Packaged: 2018-02-17 18:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2319464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icecat62/pseuds/Icecat62
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fraser discovers some things about the Vecchio family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Photographs

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to RedSuitsYou.

Francesca heard them as they walked up the stairs, Ray's heavier tread and Fraser's lighter one. Ray walked by her bedroom without even a glance, Fraser on the other hand paused at the open doorway.

"Hello Francesca."

"Hi yourself Frase."

He gave her a shy smile. "Would you care to join Ray and I..."

He never finished his sentence as he was yanked from the door. She could hear Ray admonish him. "Don't ask her to come up there with us, she'll take all day lookin' through the stuff!"

Tossing the latest issue of Vogue down on the bed, she jumped up and ran down the hall after them. "Whatcha' doin'?"

Fraser turned to her. "Father Behan is having a yard sale to benefit the parish. Ray and I are going to look through your attic to see if we can find any suitable items."

Ray gave her a tired look. "Go back to your room Frannie."

"No way, I want to help."

"Yeah right. Every time we go in the attic, all you ever end up doin' is draggin' through old memories."

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Fraser. "So, I can help too ya' know."

Fraser looked from Francesca's hopeful face to Ray's cranky one. "Ray things would go faster if all three of us worked together."

Francesca's smile grew broader. "Thank you Frase. At least someone appreciates me."

Ray sighed and continued down the hall. "Don't say I didn't warn you Benny."

The threesome made their way up the steps to the attic. Fraser offered to let Francesca go before him, but she declined. She wanted a view of Fraser from behind as he climbed the stairs.

As they stepped into the attic, she kept her eyes on Fraser, watching him take in the sights around him. The room was packed with old toys, clothes, furniture and baby things. Ray reached for a rocking horse. "Man, I bet we could get some money for this thing. It's old!"

Francesca pushed past Fraser and slapped Ray's hand away from it. "Get off Ray. That stays."

He stared back at her, the irritation in his voice obvious. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Why? Because anything that's for a baby stays."

Ray's eyes bugged out. "You're pregnant?!"

Fraser quickly spoke up, hoping to avoid a full fledged Vecchio shouting match. "Ray that is not a proper thing to ask a lady."

Ray smirked. "She ain't no lady, Benny."

She glared at Ray. "Thanks Frase and no I'm 'not' pregnant, but when I do go to have a baby, I want to be able to use this stuff."

Ray snorted. "By the time you get married and have a kid, one of Maria's kids will already be usin' it for one of theirs."

She slapped Ray on the arm and walked through the attic, flopping down by a box tied with twine. Giving Ray a nasty look, she began to untie it.

Ray shook his head no. "Oh no you don't. Leave that alone. You said you were gonna' help us."

She kept her head down. "Leave me alone. You can look for your junk yourself, I'm gonna' look at the photo albums."

Taking a book from the box, she opened it and sighed. Running her fingers over the page, she gave a wistful smile. "Ma sure was beautiful."

Ray waved a hand in her direction and began rooting through a box. Peeking up, she notice that Fraser was looking her way. She could tell that he was dying to see the picture, but was too afraid of Ray to ask to see it.

Raising her face, she smiled at him. "Frase, you wanna' see what Ma looked like when she was young?"

He looked at her and then over at Ray. "I don't know Francesca..."

Ray let his chin drop to his chest in defeat. He sighed and waved a hand at Fraser. "Go look Benny, we're gonna' be here all day now any way."

Walking over to Francesca, Fraser sat on the floor next to her. She leaned in close to him. "This might be easier."

Opening the album, she placed a page on her leg and a page on Fraser's, so that they shared the book. It was also a good excuse to scoot closer to him, so that they were now pressed against one another.

After he looked at the picture of Ma, she turned the page. She had seen these photographs a hundred times and never tired of them. It was always special to share them with someone new.

With each photo, she noticed how Fraser seemed to memorize every detail as he looked intently at the old black and white snapshots of her parents and grandparents. When the photos turned into color ones of Francesca and Ray as children, she was surprised by his reaction. His whole face seemed to light up, a smile like she had never seen from him, appeared on his face.

"This is you?" He pointed a finger at a picture of her when she was only six months old.

"Yup, that's me. Hold on a minute..." Taking the book, she closed it. Fraser looked lost as she grinned at him. "This one is better. All it has are pictures of Ray, me and Maria as babies."

Much to her delight, Fraser's smile returned. Snickering at a photo of a naked baby Ray laying on a rug, Fraser looked across the attic to where Ray was digging through a box of clothes. "It seems as though Ray hasn't changed very much."

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "Are you makin' fun of Ray bein' bald?"

He blushed slightly and kept silent.

"You're a naughty boy, Frase."

He smiled again as a nude picture of Francesca clutching a stuffed bear appeared. She whispered in his ear. "I don't look like 'that' any more."

He blushed again and quickly flipped to the next page.

They sat contentedly, going through the old photo albums. Pulling another book out, Francesca grinned evilly. "You'll love this one."

Placing a thumb at a page, she pried it open enough to peek at it. She grinned again as she dropped the book directly in Fraser's lap and flipped it open. She got the reaction she was hoping for. Fraser burst out laughing.

Feeling a warm, glow run through her, Francesca found herself laughing along with him. She, Francesca Vecchio, had made Benton Fraser laugh.

*****************

Digging through the multitude of boxes, Ray pushed back his growing irritation. Fraser was supposed to be helping him look for stuff, not sit with Francesca looking at old photographs.

He cringed as he heard Fraser chuckle. What in the hell were those two up to anyway? He peeked over at them. Francesca was too close to Fraser as far as he was concerned. The pair was leaning against one another, their heads tucked slightly down, both of them smiling at an open album shared between them. They appeared to be a cozy couple sharing a quiet moment together.

Shaking his head in disgust, Ray turned back to the box in front of him and began digging through it. *God, will ya look at this.*

Folded neatly and placed at the very bottom of the box was a suit. A very old and ugly velvet tuxedo. He grimaced in distaste. *I can't believe I wore this thing!*

Pulling it out of the box, he cautiously looked over at Fraser and Francesca. To his relief they were deeply engrossed in the photos.

Letting the material in his hands unfold, Ray stared at the jacket. It was a pale green velvet. It had to be one of the ugliest things he had ever laid eyes on, but when he had worn it to the prom, he had thought that he was the sharpest guy there.

Memories of him and his date... *What was her name? Annette!* ...the memories flooded back in a rush. Warm emotions flowed through him as he thought of Annette. She was cute as a button and had accepted his offer to go to the prom without hesitation. She was one of the most sought after girls in the entire school and the fact that she had accepted his invitation had boosted his ego like nobodies business.

Ray jerked and quickly dropped the jacket in his hands as Fraser began to laugh loudly. He turned to look back at Fraser, half expecting to see the Mountie pointing at the velvet suit. Instead, Fraser and Francesca were still looking at a photo album resting in Fraser's lap.

Fraser's voice rang loudly in the enclosed space of the attic as he continued laughing like Ray had never heard before. The pair quickly looked up, meeting Ray's gaze. To his surprise Fraser shook his head and laughed some more, wiping tears from his eyes. Francesca wore a triumphant smile on her face that turned to a wicked grin as she locked eyes with Ray.

"What are you laughin' about?!"

Fraser's body shook with now silent laughter as he fought to gain control of himself. Francesca still smiled back at him. "We're doin' nothin', just lookin' at pictures."

Ray narrowed his eyes. "Of what?"

"Family."

He hated that smug 'I know something that you don't' smile that she wore on her face. Striding over to the seated pair, Ray reached for the photo album in Fraser's lap, only to have Francesca snatch it from his grasp and slam it shut, hugging it protectively to her chest.

"Let me see what you were lookin' at."

"No."

"Let me see it!"

Ray held his hand out for the album and when she didn't give it to him, he reached down and ripped it from her grasp.

"Ray! Geez! You didn't have to kill me!"

Looking at her hand, her face darkened. "Look what you did! You broke a nail!" She held her hand up for Ray to see, who ignored her.

Fraser took her hand and gently caressed the finger with the broken nail. "It didn't break off very far, Francesca. You can file it down and it will look fine. There's no damage to the cuticle."

Ray made a gagging noise. "Quit slobbering over her, it's only a stupid fingernail."

Ray flipped the album open, turning page after page. He stopped at the eight by ten glossy of him, Annette and the hideous tuxedo. Looking at the photo, he then looked at Fraser. Turning the book around, he shoved the offending page at him. "You think this is funny do ya'?"

Fraser snorted and tucked his head down, choking back his laughter, causing it to come out in a tight whine. Francesca patted Fraser's knee and chuckled. "Can you believe he wore that thing?"

Fraser shook his head no, keeping his face down to avoid looking at Ray. He didn't know if he could stop laughing if he looked up. Ray began to fume. "Ya' know, when I wore that suit, I was considered the best dressed guy at the prom."

Francesca's voice was dry. "You looked like a celery stick, Ray."

Fraser's shoulders began shaking again. "Celery...stalk."

She grinned at Fraser. "Stick, stalk, he looked like a big green veggy."

"Okay Benny, what did you wear to the prom? I bet you didn't even have one!"

Ray waited for Fraser to calm down.

Raising a tear streaked face, Fraser opened his mouth, took a deep breath, then tucked his head back down. "I'm sorry...Ray." Taking another breath, he looked back up, trying to keep the smile from his face. "I wore a black suit and a black tie."

Francesca tried picturing a seventeen year old Fraser at a prom. She couldn't picture him ever having the nerve to ask a girl out. "You went to a prom, Frase?"

He smiled back at her. "It wasn't exactly a prom, it was a spring dance."

"Same thing. You get dressed up and you dance, it's a prom. Who'd ya' go with?"

Fraser opened his mouth to answer her, but was cut off by the sound of Ray slamming the photo album shut. He tossed it in the box next to them. "How about you two help me get some stuff for Father Behan, instead of makin' fun of me."

Fraser gave Ray a guilty look and stood, holding his hand out to Francesca. She grasped his hand and found herself effortlessly lifted up. She held onto his hand and smiled up at him as he grinned shyly back at her.

Ray rolled his eyes. "You can let go of her hand, Benny."

Fraser gave Ray another guilty look. He looked back at Francesca, giving her hand a gentle squeeze before releasing his hold on her.

********************

Ray cajoled them into digging through the remaining boxes and in a few short hours, they had a sizable pile of things to take to the yard sale.

Francesca wiped the back of her hand across a sweaty brow. "Whew! That was like work."

Ray gave a satisfied smile. "It's worth it though. Okay you two, let's load this stuff in the Riv."

The three of them carried the boxes down, placing them in the trunk and back seat of the Riv, filing the car completely. Diefenbaker whined from where he sat on the front porch, as his place in the Riv was taken by a box of old clothes. Ray snapped at him. "Oh give me a break! Where were you when we were gettin' all the stuff?"

Francesca snickered. "Give 'him' a break Ray. He's a wolf, what could he do to help?"

Ray waved her off. "Come on Benny, let's get this stuff over to the rectory."

"Yes, Ray."

Francesca walked closer to where they stood by the car. "You guys comin' back for lunch?"

Fraser looked expectantly at Ray who rolled his eyes. "Yes, we'll come back for lunch."

She smiled directly at Fraser, completely ignoring Ray's look of disgust. "Good, I'll make some sandwiches and some fresh lemonade."

She back smiled at Fraser, enjoying the way he completely ignored Ray to look at her. He gave her a small smile in return and before he got in the Riv, he boldly leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you kindly for showing me the photographs."

As he slid into the front seat, Francesca heard Ray yelling at him as he backed the car out of the driveway. "Why in the hell did you kiss her?!"

Fraser's answer was lost as the Riv pulled away from the house.

Francesca did a little happy dance and ran up on the porch. Kneeling down, she grabbed Diefenbaker in a tight hug. "I got him to laugh and he kissed me!"

Ruffling Dief's fur, she bounced happily to her feet. "How about a sandwich Diefenbaker? Would you like that?"

His sharp bark and wag of his tail showed he approved of her suggestion. The happy pair went into the house, one skipping in joy and the other jumping in excitement at the prospect of slices of Italian ham on rye.

END


End file.
